Hello everyone.

I've recently decided to finally start backpacking & hiking. I'm now 43 and the only shape I'm in is round (5'8" and 265lbs). Actually, I'm in decent shape for my size, but I'm starting to see the slowdown so it's time to get back into shape and get doing the things that I enjoy doing. Hiking in the wilderness is one of those things. I've never really backpacked before, other than when I would go hunting for a day, which would take me for a hike anywhere from 5-10km (3-7mi), but that's where I learned that I enjoyed backpacking.

I decided that I am going to do the Fundy Footpath trail here in New Brunswick, which is from Fundy National Park to the Fundy Trail. It's 41km (25.5mi) long (one place I read said 49.3km) and it's suggested to plan for a 4 day hike. That's probably due to the terrain, plus there's a river that you can only cross at low tide so you need to be there at the right time. This kind of hike is right up my alley, and I'll probably tackle it next year. I'd love to do it this fall before the Fundy Trail park closes (off season would add 11km to the hike to get to their main gate) but I doubt I would be ready. So right now I'm working on my pack while anxiously awaiting the trail guide to arrive in the mail.

Last weekend, I decided to pack up my backpack and hike a local trail near my house to see how I would do. The plan originally was 8.5km of trail, spend the night gear testing, and about 1km hike out in the morning. Well, I was up until almost 2am gear reducing because I knew my pack was too heavy. So I slept in and decided to do about 4km instead. Reality set in when I turned around after 1.5km because the pack was still too heavy (think it was still over 50lbs). So now I'm continuing to weight reduce. The pack I have is a Cabela's pack, maybe an outfitter model, from around 15 years or so ago. A well made pack, fits me perfectly, but I realize now that it weighs a ton. Worst part is that that was the first time I tried hiking with it. I packed once on a fishing trip, but then it was just carried on a 4-wheeler rack.

I'm now going to try and use an old treestand backpack instead, which is much lighter. From what I gather, it's supposed to be around 3000cu.in. in size. I packed it up with everything but clothes and food (water and tent were packed), and it's at 24.5lbs. My goal is to reduce more so that I can fit everything in it and hopefully keep it to 25lbs or less. This weekend I plan to try the local trail again, with whatever reductions I can make and see how it goes. I've gotten lots of good info from some of the posts here in the forums already.

I guess I don't have any specific questions at the moment, but I'll take any general advice!

It's funny, when I go hunting, my survival kit is in a camera case that's 4"x3"x2"... you'd think I would be able reduce a backpack to near that size too.

General advice: Start slow, work up. Start with short trips just a few miles from the trailhead. Or you can camp in a car campground but pack up and carry your pack on a day hike, then camp again in the campground at night. Keep extending the distances. Definitely do not try a long trail until you've achieved both more experience and more physical fitness (the second will come while you're doing the first, so don't postpone the short trips!) While it's good to have something big as your ultimate goal, please don't rush it. There's a proverb about the journey of a thousand miles starting with a single step, advice well worth following.

There are lots of good articles on gear, going lightweight, and other backpacking topics on the home page of this site, left hand column. There are several good gear lists there, too. Also see the "sticky" post by phat at the beginning of this Backcountry Beginners section.

Oh yes, definitely not going to go on anything too long until I know I can do it safely. Even the 8.5km local trail is pretty safe since it's kinda like a figure 8 with the trail head in the middle and is shorter without side trails. Makes it a perfect spot to practice.

Last year I ended up having a bout with cancer and spent most of the summer in bed recovering from surgeries. I'm back up on my feet again now, so I've got to get my stamina back. Early this summer I did a nice 7km geocache hike one morning. For the big hike, I'm thinking either late spring after things dry up from winter, or around this time next year. There's also another trail that's 60km here, which I may do first since I think it's easier terrain. Then again it has about 200 geocaches along it, so I might not get through it for weeks... gotta find them all.

It's a goal to work towards.

Most beginners take way too much stuff--especially clothes, but also axes, shovels, big knives, etc.

If you read through the pages here, and check out our website, you'll be well on your way to getting your pack down to what you really need. And hiking will be a lot easier.

Each night this week I've gone back to the pack and took things out that I don't really need. I'm almost down to 20lbs with pack, tent, gear and water. Trying to figure out how to fit in both clothes and water into that pack. My tent is a 2-man that weighs about 6 lbs. A nice light 1-man is in my future. I did find a goretex bivy in my stuff, but not sure how I'd like it. The idea of a tent is what I think I'd prefer. Maybe I'll sleep out on my deck in it and see if I feel like a cocooned worm or not.